My New Toy

My parents gave Ella this Rainforest Jumperoo for an early Christmas present. She was bored with her other toys so I figured this would keep her entertained. It has so many little toys and gadgets for her to play with. I try to put her in it a couple times a day so she will get used to it. She is so funny how she inspected everything first. I had to put pillows under her feet because her little legs just aren't long enough. These are some pictures from the first time I put her in it.

Baby Will

Our good friends Eddie and Steph came by to visit today and brought their little boy Will to meet Ella. He was just so fascinated with her, and they just starred at each other for the longest time. The last time I saw Will he was Ella's age. He is now 8 months old and has changed so much. He is so darn cute and has the prettiest blue eyes that make you just melt. Ella pretty much slept the whole time they were here. We are so glad they came to visit and hope they come back soon.

Happy Birthday Cam!

My brother Cam will turn "THE BIG 18" tomorrow. So we packed up the family and headed to the Delta on Saturday to celebrate with some Alice Chow cake, ice-cream, and gifts. He loves Mexican food so Nick and I took him to Atzimbas for dinner. I still can't believe he is turning 18. I guess time flies when you're having fun.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAM!!! We love you!

Insanity Saver: The Ultimate Crib Sheet

This morning when I picked Ella up from her crib I noticed the dreaded poop blow-out. I quickly realized just how wonderful The Ultimate Crib Sheet is. So I unsnapped the sheet, threw it in the washing machine, and put the back-up sheet on. I couldn't even imagine this happening in the middle of the night and having to change the fitted sheet. This sheet only comes in white, which really isn't that big of a deal even if you are OCD like me about the whole nursery color-coordinating thing. It only shows the fitted sheet from the side, and not the top...which I have learned to accept. The only drawback is that the crib needs to have slats on all four sides, which is what we have. So thanks Noelle for introducing me to this fabulous invention.

Playing Catch-Up

These past couple of weeks have been busy, busy. I am finally posting pics of Ella's Baptism. Ella received the Sacrament of Baptism last Sunday at the St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Clarksdale. We were surrounded by our family and friends, and the ceremony went so smoothly. After the Baptism Maria Fyfe hosted a luncheon at her house. The food was great! Ella is so fortunate to have so many people that love her. I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone that helped make her day so special. And especially thanks to Maria for feeding 30+ people.(I would have lost my mind)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Ella's 1st Halloween

This was Ella's first Halloween so of course we had to dress her up. I bought this cute little dog costume from Wal-mart. It was a little too big, but she sure looked cute in it! She even let me take tons of pictures. She was such a good sport. We went around to some of the houses in our cove, and she was asleep by the time we made it to the 2nd house. She was the cutest little puppy dog I have ever seen.

Happy Birthday Pittman!

On October 28th was Pittman Crews' 2nd birthday. Maribeth decided to celebrate the weekend before with an Elmo themed birthday party. How exciting! All of his friends came to celebrate the big day. There were cupcakes, a party bounce slide, and toys for the kids to play with. It was a blast! I bet Maribeth already has next year's planned.

Pictures from the party

playing on the slide

singing "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"

Such a big boy

the birthday boy and me

Getting so big

I just wanted to share some new pics with everyone. Ella is getting so big and changing everyday. I am so thankful that I'm able to stay at home with her because I don't want to miss a thing!

Ella and Uncle Kurt

squeaky clean

the blank stare

sweet little EG loved holding Ella

I LOVE MY MUMMY!

lovin' her new sunglasses

A special visit

Ella and I had a special visit from Lauranne a couple of weeks ago. She decided at the last minute to drive up for the weekend, and we are so glad she did! I only get to see her a couple times a year because she lives so far. My mom and Cam babysat Ella while we went to Mistletoe Mercahants in Memphis to do some shopping. We had such a great time and we hope she will come back and visit us soon.

Lauranne and her godchild

2 Week Checkup

Yesterday was Ella's 2 week checkup. She is 1 ounce over her original birthweight, which means she is a great eater. Of course I had my long list of questions for Dr. Lacy. Everything checked out great, and he said we need to come back in 6 weeks for her first full round of shots. Not looking forward to that :(

Daddy got me dressed and ready to go...

then we were off to the doctor

The First 2 Weeks

Ella is 2 weeks old today! I hope the first year doesn't go by as fast as the first 2 weeks have. These past few days have been busy and life changing! I never knew that I could love something as much as I love her. She is such a good baby, and we are so blessed to have her in our lives.

These are some pictures from the first couple of weeks.

Mesmerized by her mobile

Resting with Daddy

She loves her Boppy seat

Maribeth and Pittman came to visit and brought us lunch. We hope they come back soon!

On our way for her 1 week checkup

Hard to believe...

About to POP!

It's hard to believe that 39 1/2 weeks have gone by so quickly. It feels like just yesterday (December 16th to be exact) I found out that I was pregnant. I went home that weekend for Cam's birthday. On Sunday I left my parent's house early in the morning. As I was driving along I quickly realized that "TOM" (time of the month) hadn't visited me lately. Could I be.....nah not possible I thought to myself. I had only been off of my bc a couple of months. When I got home I decided to find out for sure. I just happened to have a box of 2 pregnancy tests, I took them both, and both were POSITIVE. Of course, I cried, then grabbed my keys and purse and headed to Kroger to get more tests. Much to my surprise that's when I found out that they keep the pregnancy tests under tight lock-n-key. So as I flashed my wedding ring to the pharmacist (just to let him know that I wasn't just some teeny bopper) I asked politely for the key, unlocked the case, and grabbed the tests. I checked out and back home I went. What an ordeal that was. It took 6 pregnancy tests for me to fully comprehend the fact that I was "with child". I went from scared to death to elated in a matter of seconds. Nick was out of town hunting so I waited and sat on this news for 6 hours. I was about to bust at the seams to tell him. While I was waiting for him to get home I remembered Lauranne telling me about the Chinese Lunar Calendar which is a baby gender predictor. I totally believe in all of that stuff. I decided to give it a try. My fingers couldn't google it fast enough. I finally found the website and in a matter of seconds I knew I was having a girl!!! Crazy...I know, but it was still neat to think that it could be a girl. Finally Nick came home and I shouted, "I'm pregnant and it's a girl!!!" Of course I had to explain the girl part, but nonetheless he was excited. We decided to keep it to ourselves for a little while. His parents came up to take us to dinner one night so we told them first. They were so excited. We told my parents while we were at my Aunt Sue's house for Christmas. Nick and I had it all planned out how we would go about telling them the good news. But if anyone knows me they know that I can not keep a secret (happy secrets of course). I was really nervous the entire day, and it was starting to show. So I just kind of blurted it out while everyone was standing around in the kitchen. The look on my mom's face was absolutety priceless. I thought she was going to pass out. I just stood there with my secret now out in the open with a huge grin on my face not knowing what to say next. I was going to be a mom!!!!

Looking back on the last 9 months being pregnant and going through labor were probably the easiest things I have ever done. And I would do it again....just not any time soon.

Ella Reinhart Pollan was born on Monday, August 18th
at 11:44 p.m. ( 5 days before my 27th birthday).
What a great birthday present!!
She weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz. and was 19 1/2 in. long.
And she is perfect!!